1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to image forming apparatus such as copiers, facsimile machines, and printers, and particularly pertains to an image forming apparatus that enables to carry out proper management regarding copyright and the like by supporting an operator in complying with restricting information such as information regarding copyright which differs from region to region.
2. Description of the Background Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-187419 discloses a copier provided with copy restriction processing means of banning or restricting an operator from copying particular documents such as banknotes. According to the technology disclosed in the publication, when a person manipulates the copier to read an image on a particular document such as a banknote, the copier is operated to ban the person from performing illegal copying by comparing the read image with image data stored in storage means, and by storing peculiar information such as information on fingerprints of the person who has attempted to copy the particular document when it is judged that the read image is an image of a banknote.
In the above technology, prior to copying, an image to be copied is read, and the read image is compared with a pre-stored image. This is a convenient method as far as the image to be copied is a particular or discriminative image such as a banknote. However, it is difficult to pre-store all the images available in the world. It should be concluded that the above method is applicable merely to a particular or discriminative image such as a banknote.
Restriction information such as copy-related restriction information of banning copying of a particular image such as a banknote differs from region to region where laws and charging regulations differ. The conventional image forming apparatus has been designed merely to cope with restriction contents that have been defined at an early stage of establishing laws and regulations. Accordingly, if the conventional image forming apparatus is exported abroad, it is required to pre-store in the storage means of the apparatus the restriction contents in compliance with the laws and regulations in the country where the apparatus is to exported. In case that the law constituting the restriction contents is revised during use of the apparatus, it is required to replace the storage means storing the old data with storage means storing data on the revised law every time the law is revised.
It should be noted that printers, facsimiles, and other image forming apparatus encounter the aforementioned problem as well as the copiers.